“Make an appointment with a riotously funny film that’s a “cut” above the rest

Comedienne Mo’Nique stars as Peaches, a Baltimore hair stylist who goes to L.A. to get reacquainted with her estranged sister Angela (Kellita Smith), owner of an upscale salon in Beverly Hills. But the reunion takes a hair-raising turn when Peaches admits she owes the IRS back taxes, and her last hope is to enter the Hair Battle Royale contest for the $50,000 first prize. Now she must defeat a scheming rival salon owner Marcella (Gina Torres) and stay one step ahead of the taxman!”

Hair Show is rated PG-13 for sexual content including dialogue.

The Movie: This movie really didn’t have a chance of winning me over. It was made specifically for black women and last time I checked, I wasn’t a black woman. Hang on a sec Nope. Still not. Like the big quote on the cover says, this movie is “the female Barbershop”. (In fact it was named “Beauty Shop” until Queen Latifah’s movie came along.) All the humor is geared towards women and mostly towards black women. They joke about Halle Berry, weaves, black women’s hair, etc. etc etc. In other words stuff that doesn’t really speak to me on a personal level.

Your enjoyment of this film will depend a lot on what you think of comedienne Mo’Nique. Personally, I don’t think she’s that funny. Most of her shtick consists of her being very loud and obnoxious and, for lack of a better term, urban. You either like that comedy or you don’t. I prefer it in smaller doses than Hair Show offers. A side story of Mo’Nique becoming romantically involved with a handsome photographer is also a little hard to buy. They don’t seem to have much in common. Another side story of Mo’Nique being stalked by the IRS is also so silly that it becomes way overdone.

The rest of the cast is OK. Gina Torres is almost unrecognizable as Marcella, the rival of our heroes. This role is completely opposite from her role in The Matrix Revolutions. She plays it very over the top. Kellita Smith is a little better as Angela. You can believe that she would fit in either in Baltimore or in Beverly Hills. Keiko Agena steals a number of scenes as Jun Ni, an Asian woman trying her best to learn how to cook. She certainly holds her own with the boisterous cast. Vivica A. Fox also has an amusing cameo as herself getting a bad hairdo from Mo’Nique (aka Peaches).

Hair Show concludes with (you guessed it) a hair show that the competing salons take part in. It’s probably one of the more notable parts of the movie as there’s an endless parade of bizarre outfits and hairdos that I don’t think you’d even see on Halloween.

In the end, I wouldn’t recommend Hair Show to you unless you’re a black woman or unless you really like Mo’Nique or the other Beauty Shop movie. There’s not a lot here for anyone else.

The Extras: Besides the trailer, the only other bonus feature on this DVD is a collection of 5 deleted scenes. One scene shows Mo’Nique preaching to people on a street corner. Another scene shows Gina Torres as a dominatrix making men agree to trash Angela’s salon. Another scene shows one of the male hairdressers punching out one of the other hairdressers for insulting his wife. Then there’s another scene showing more freaky hairstyles from the hair show. The final deleted scene shows Mo’Nique getting one of the guys back for tricking her into tasting Jun Ni’s cooking.

The Bottom Line: If you liked Beauty Shop, then you’re probably going to like Hair Show. Everyone else should probably avoid this one.